


Inside

by Northofthewall



Category: Stargate SG-1
Genre: Action/Adventure, F/M, Friendship, Light-Hearted, Mild Angst, Sexual Tension, Team
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-03
Updated: 2017-02-27
Packaged: 2018-09-21 18:31:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 13,514
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9561521
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Northofthewall/pseuds/Northofthewall
Summary: SG1 explore some ruins on a strangely quiet jungle planet. Jack gets himself in trouble which causes more than a little difficulty for Carter.





	1. Chapter 1

Colonel Jack O'Neill stood in the gate room, absentmindedly fiddling with a pocket on his vest. Teal'c and Major Samantha Carter stood patiently beside him. He sighed. He was feeling noticeably less patient than usual for this mission to get underway. The sooner they departed, the sooner they could come back. Ancient ruins amid hot, humid, dense rainforest, likely teaming with interesting alien critters, was not his ideal off-world trip. Far from it. He'd done jungle. He didn't like it. 

"Danny!" He shouted, loosing his patience finally.  
Dr Daniel Jackson came running into the gate room, fastening his bag up and hefting it onto his back.  
"Sorry, sorry, I went back to fetch a book that I think is going to come in useful in case we have some cross-over with the pre-columbian, ceramic and pre-ceramic period cultures of South America, going by what the Jaffa said..."  
"Yeah, yeah, clearly." Jack rolled his eyes and sighed again. "Right. Are we all ready kids?"  
Daniel nodded. The other two shifted their weapons in their grasps in readiness.  
"And..." he pointed casually to the gate and stepped forward, thinking there should be a new military hand signal for 'proceed through Stargate'. 'Come' and 'advance' and even 'point of entry' just wouldn't cut it. 

They were hit by a wall of hot wet air on arrival. Jack was instantly covered in a sheen of sweat. It was like walking into a sauna fully dressed.  
"Phew," Daniel exclaimed, pulling at his collar.  
Even Carter groaned a little. They had worn lightweight green camo BDU's, fully expecting the heat, but severely underestimating the humidity. 

They were here on the planet designated P3X-299 due to rumours from some rebel Jaffa that there were some interesting ruins. Something was keeping the Goa'uld away but nobody could be more specific. A UAV they'd sent had spotted what was likely to be the ruins, 11 klicks NNW. 11 klicks of dense rainforest. 

Jack stepped down the unusually steep, high steps from the gate, into a large clearing. Lanky, top heavy trees surrounded the clearing, rising up from dark thick undergrowth. Mist hung low in the air, clinging and rising reluctantly from the flat topped trees and fading into a hazy sky.

He looked around at his team. Daniel had already stripped off his tactical vest and jacket and was running in circles around the gate, studying the ground and yelling something about Nazca lines. Carter was trying to look unbothered by the heat, but was unzipping her tactical vest and jacket.  
Teal'c was scanning the jungle, actually looking mildly uncomfortable for once. Jack checked his compass. He'd been informed, at length, about how the magnetic field of the planet meant that North didn't point to the North Pole, but magnetic North, which was somewhere else entirely. But the ruins were NNW of magnetic North, which was all that mattered to him.  
"Right. This way," he said, making a start towards the edge of the clearing. "T, bring up the rear. Come on Daniel."  
Daniel argued back and started talking excitedly about South American Pre-Columbian cultures, but he ignored it and soon the archaeologist was behind him, in step with Major Carter. 

"Keep your eyes out for critters," he said, standing at the edge of the impenetrable looking jungle.  
"What is a..." Teal'c started to query.  
"Critters," Jack answered. "Bugs, creatures, crawly things, giant spiders."  
"I don't mind spiders as long as they're not the metal kind," Carter quipped. He had to agree. Although he wasn't a big fan of the webs. There was something hugely unpleasent about running face first into a huge spider web. 

There didn't appear to be a path, or a road, or any other kind of means of getting from here to there that wouldn't involve brute forcing it through the undergrowth.  
"Don't suppose anyone packed a machete?" Jack sighed. This was going to be one of those missions. 

It became immediately apparent that it was going to take longer than expected to find the ruins. Pushing through gigantic leaved plants and dense wiry shrubs while trying not to trip over the tangling roots and thick carpet of fern, was ridiculously time consuming. Not to mention the curling web of stems and vines intertwined between the trees. After only a couple of klicks, Jack was drenched, from his own sweat as well as the thick misty air. He had a few scratches on his face from plants that had been unpersuaded to give way so easily.  
"Sorry Carter," he said, turning around to see his Major's face with a large scratch across it from where a branch had sprung back at her. Oops. She just glared mildly at him.  
"Uh, Teal'c buddy? Get up here, you're taking point."  
He had to acquiesce. Teal'c was way more suitable for this. Daniel and Carter stood in limp silence as he swapped places with Teal'c. It was much too hot for chatting, or even bickering. That suited Jack fine. They moved out and Jack found it noticeably easier to pass through jungle that already had three people through it.  
"T, you ok up there?" he called, feeling slightly guilty watching the large man up ahead wrestling a bush.  
"I am fine O'Neill."  
He briefly considered ordering Carter to take his place in the rear, but knew she would suspect him of trying to go easy on her. And she'd be right of course. 

After three exhausting klicks, Teal'c suddenly stopped.  
"I believe we have found the ruins," he said stoically, not showing any hint of fatigue.  
Jack came alongside him and surveyed the scene. Despite the name 'ruins' being highly applicable here, the old buildings and stones rather impressively filled a large clearing at the confluence of two small rivers. Not that he'd ever tell Daniel that he'd thought it impressive. There was an awful lot of it, spread out, and overgrown. Daniel was already examining the nearest stone.  
"Keep your eyes peeled folks," he said, and gestured for his team to advance.

They carefully made their way into the clearing, between rows of rough square stone pillars carved with simple shapes and lines, past low, rough stoned walls in lines of small squares, and blocky fallen archways. What used to be smooth paving was now broken and overgrown. Vines and creepers tangled over pillars. Small trees grew from what might have once been houses. Hazy sunshine pierced the heavy mist. The air was still and silent aside from the gurgling and splashing of the river running along the western edge. It was azure blue and crystal clear, small and fast, dancing over smoothed stones and then plunging into deep cool looking pools. The other river was slow flowing and wide, an unappealing greeny brown colour and murky with the banks full of weed and rushes. Where they met, a mess of green and blue eddies battled, the more powerful green murk winning out, flowing steadily on into the jungle. The ruins sat neatly in the middle, left to nature and forgotten.

Jack perched on a smooth cut low wall, taking his jacket off finally, and putting his tactical vest back on. Daniel hurried around, running his hands over carvings, pulling note books out of his bag. Jack didn't need to tell Teal'c and Carter what to do. They stood nearby watching the jungle. Growing impatient, Jack risked asking Daniel a question, hoping, against all previous experience, that the answer would be succinct.  
"So Daniel, do we stick around, or have we got a long trip back to the gate?"  
"What?" Daniel appeared from behind a large square pillar. "Oh. Um. Yes! We have to stay! It's amazing. There are similarities here with the Nazca culture on Earth, despite the very different environment. And! And..." He leapt over to another pillar, this one round and more intricately carved. "There is evidence of Ancients being here too, which is fascinating. Was it an old Ancient settlement that was reused? Or were they possibly sharing this place? And how..."  
"Yes. Fine. Thank you Daniel," Jack interrupted with a fake appeasing tone. "Keep working. Let me know if you find anything of significance. And by that I mean, something _I_ might find interesting. Got it?"  
"Absolutely."  
"Good."  
With that sorted he turned to the other two, who were looking more disheveled by the minute. Not that either of them would complain, sometimes to the point of ridiculousness. Carter for example, was still in full BDU, her only submission to the heat being her undone vest and jacket zippers. He sighed at her.  
"Carter. Take some damn clothes off, for crying out loud. You're wilting faster than lettuce at a Texas barbecue."  
She shifted uncomfortably. "Is that an order sir?"  
God damn it! She smirked at him and he humphed in return and went to find the best place to set camp. 

"We're setting camp here," he called to them once he'd found a suitable spot on soft ground, under the shade of a small tree with some handy defensive walls close by. They put up two tents and dumped most of their gear. He sent Carter off to watch Daniel while he and Teal'c went to check the perimeter. He felt strangely uneasy, walking along the riverbank, watching the rainforest with the mist reaching for him across the water. He stopped to splash water over his head, keeping an eye on the thick undergrowth. He made a note to take a dip later.

He met up with Teal'c to compare notes. The big guy had an uneasy expression on his usually stoic face, which worried him a great deal. Teal'c was unflappable.  
"What's up T?"  
"I do not know O'Neill. It is just a feeling."  
"Spill it."  
"I am experiencing the sensation of being watched."  
The simple, straightforwardly spoken sentence instantly put him on edge, which he then hid behind a professional nod of understanding.  
"Stay sharp." He patted Teal'c reassuringly on the shoulder.  
"I will endeavour to do so."  
"Carter?" Jack called on the radio.  
"Sir?"  
"Stay alert. Teal'c's spider sense is tingling."  
"Sir?"  
"Tell you later."  
"Yes sir. Copy that."

Jack's eyes were now glued to the jungle. Where it had seemed almost pretty with the sunlight streaming through the leaves, making shafts of light through the mist, it now seemed dark and foreboding. The trees with their high canopies seemed to loom out towards them. But nothing moved. Even the air was still. 

"Have you noticed," Jack asked, back at camp later, "How quiet it is?"  
"Yes?" Daniel said, as if it was obvious.  
Carter had crooked her head, looked up, and a little furrow appeared between her eyebrows.  
"I didn't notice before," she said, looking back at him. "It's almost too quiet."  
"Unnaturally quiet?" he asked cautiously.  
"Not necessarily. Maybe there's very little animal life here."  
"Is that not most unusual for an environment such as this?" Teal'c asked.  
"I have found some references to animals in the iconography on some of the larger stones. But they may be mythical rather than native creatures?" Daniel said.  
"What kind of animals?" Carter asked.  
"Mostly birds and cats, which is typical of Nazca, and other similar cultures."  
"No spiders," Jack smiled at Carter. 

Seeing as it was evening, going by Earth time, Jack declared it dinner time, despite it still being bright daylight. They ate cold MRE's and didn't bother with a fire. They were all too hot to want one, and it would have been tough with the damp anyway. 

"I hate to ask Daniel, but..."  
Daniel raised his eyebrows in anticipation.  
"Found any cool stuff yet?"  
"Well..."  
"Wait! I mean... Found any cool weapons, any clues leading to cool weapons or instructions on how to make cool weapons?"  
Daniel paused. "Well, noooo but..."  
Shame.  
"We did find some writing that indicates there may be a science laboratory somewhere here," Carter interrupted, with the kind of enthusiasm she reserved for gadgets and sciency Carter stuff.  
"Somewhere... not ruined?" Jack asked, gesturing around him at the tumbled down walls.  
"In the past, we've tended to find these places underground, so there is a good chance its here somewhere."  
"Good news," Jack said. 

When it looked like the sun was not going to set anytime soon, they drew straws to see who would have to share a tent with the snoring Jaffa. Jack had invented the game as a way of dealing with his conflict over not wanting to order Carter to share with one of the other guys every single time, while equally not being comfortable in ordering her to share with him either. This was just easier, and he could pretend it was about Teal'c and his relatively new need to sleep, albeit loudly. 

Daniel drew the short straw. 

Before bed Jack ordered his team to 'wash that stink off'. Nobody wanted to share a tent with someone saturated with old sweat. So they stripped and took a dip in one of the deep pools of the smaller river. Carter went up stream somewhere, and was ordered to keep her P90 within arms reach. The pool was just deep enough to squat and be submerged up to your shoulders. It was also, surprisingly and delightfully cool. It was tempting to just stay in there. After his wash, Jack dried off as best he could and put on a fresh pair of boxers, being unable to bear putting on anything more than that, despite having to share a tent with Carter. 

Carter wasn't shy exactly. It's just that things were a little awkward sometimes, knowing that there was a (mostly) unspoken attraction there and having to pretend it didn't exist while sharing a tent. But they had a routine to make it easier. Carter went to bed first, and Jack always gave her 30 mins to get into bed before coming in himself. She'd usually be on her side facing away from him, either pretending to be asleep or reading or making notes. This time she was lying ontop of her open sleeping bag, going over notes she'd made during the day. He couldn't guess what they would be about. Since it was still almost unbearably hot, she had also stripped right down, wearing only a sporty looking bra and panties set. Jack decided to forgo the sleeping bag altogether. He fell asleep with his t-shirt over his head, trying to keep the light out.


	2. Chapter 2

Neither of them slept very well. The sticky heat meant they tossed and turned all night. Carter even slapped him in the face at one point and mumbled a sleepy "Sorry sir."  
That had happened before. The worst was getting elbowed by Daniel. The guy had surprisingly pointy elbows. He woke for his watch to find Carter sprawled out next to him, her black tank-top over her face, her long limbs sheened with a fresh layer of sweat. His glance over to her was a tiny bit longer than was acceptable. He told himself it was just to make sure she could breathe. He grabbed a fresh T-shirt, put his pants and boots on, slipped on his vest, picked up his P90 and went to relieve Teal'c. 

He stalked quietly through the ruins, keeping one eye on the tents and one on the disquieting jungle. With his team mates sleeping in the tent he felt very alone and Teal'c's words played on his mind. He was used to silent vigils, keeping watch over team mates, even in very hostile situations. But this was different. He felt as if he was missing something. Something that should be obvious. He found himself examining the simple Nazcan engravings. Curly shapes edged large confusing friezes of warrior looking people, heads on poles, birds, jungle and lots of cats. He didn't much like the look of the heads on poles, but as the Nazcans were long gone, they didn't have to worry about that. 

After two hours, he went to wake Carter who was due to relieve him. She was dressed and ready, sitting in the tent wrapped in her own thoughts.  
"Nothing out there but creepy carvings," he said, carefully putting away his P90.  
"Try to sleep," she said kindly, heading out.  
"Thanks."  
But not likely. He didn't even take his boots off. He lay down and closed his eyes and tried to take his mind off the watching jungle. 

"Was it light all night?" Daniel asked later over a bit of breakfast.  
"Yeah. This planet obviously rotates slower on its axis. The tilt..."  
"Carter, English please."  
"The days are longer sir," she explained.  
"Thank you."  
"I wonder how much longer?" Daniel pondered.  
"Well the sun _has_ been getting lower in the sky so..."  
Carter stopped, obviously not wanting to go into too much detail and risk his ire, however much in jest. But Jack's secret and what he would never admit to, was that he actually loved her science chatter, a little bit too much. Ok, honestly, sometimes he genuinely wasn't in the mood and it made his head hurt, but a lot of the time he just didn't want to deal with how attractive she was spouting all those long complicated words. 

The day was long and boring. Boring, boring, boring. Teal'c almost obsessively patrolled the perimeter, which unnerved the rest of them. Daniel and Carter explored the ruins looking for hints of a possible underground laboratory. Jack sat, uneasy, uncomfortably hot and unreasonably bored. There was a brief bit of excitement when Daniel started shouting with enthusiasm, but that was short lived as it turned out to be something about an engraved stone that translated... something. Sigh. And still no way into this underground science lab, although Daniel did now swear it was there and held some advanced technology. Carter was right though, the sun did appear to be lower in the sky. He worried about when night would fall and what that might mean. What would night bring to this place that in bright daylight made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up?

The evening and night pretty much passed the same way. They had all got very bored with just how hot they were and how sweaty their clothes were constantly, so modesty (not that they bothered with it much anyway) had gone out the window. They walked around bare chested, Jack and Teal'c keeping their tactical vests on, albeit unzipped. Carter looked impermissibly fetching in her black tank top, which was a welcome upside to this heat anyway. 

During his watch, Jack realised it was noticeably cooler and noticeably darker. Just a smidge. But enough to notice. It felt ominous. He decided it was worth waking Carter early for. She didn't seem to mind. He also kinda wanted the company. 

"I think the sun is setting," she offered, pulling her sleeping bag over herself.  
"How long till it's dark?"  
"It's hard to say sir. It depends on the tilt of the planet and our latitude and longitude, as well as..."  
"Never mind Carter."  
He looked at the ceiling of the tent and wondered just how fast the night was going to bring whatever it was that he just knew it was going to bring.  
"Should we be worried about nightfall?" she asked, reading his mind.  
"Nah, probably not."  
They looked at each other, both trying to look confident while attempting to asses how worried the other was.  
"Sleep, I'll go back on watch," Jack decided.  
"Little point sir. It's nearly my watch anyway."  
She got up and started pulling on clothes. He lay down and turned his back.  
"Thanks Carter. Let me know if it goes dark. And be careful."  
She left and he pulled his sleeping bag over himself. Five minutes later he was pulling on his T-shirt. The dropping temperature was both a relief and a concern. 

When they all got up later, the sky was grey. Jack had been expecting a sunset. This just looked menacing. It was significantly cooler as well. You didn't spring an instant sweat just from taking a few steps. Carter had even put her jacket back on. All their focus was now on a circle area Daniel had uncovered that looked a little bit like a ring platform but clearly wasn't. They stayed closer together now. The deepening dark of the jungle felt a lot more oppressive. Teal'c kept a wary eye on the dark spaces between the trees, patrolling around their immediate area. It was a bit like the feeling you get before a thunderstorm. Daniel went to fetch a book from his tent and Jack took the opportunity to examine this circle for himself. It was engraved with concentric rings and markings that might have meant something to Daniel. He stood in the small, plain centre circle. He couldn't see anything special about it. Except there was a strange hum in the air. What was that?  
"Sir!"  
Carter grabbed his arm and there was a flash of light that seemed to reach inside him. Then it was dark. 

"Um," he said.  
Carter still had a tight grip on him. It was pitch black and musty and a little chilly.  
"I think you found the way in."  
Carter answered his question without him even having to ask it. She was good at that.  
"Is there a reason my P90 is gone?" he said switching on the flashlight attatched to his tactical vest.  
"Um, I guess it's a safety feature," she offered.  
"I don't feel safer."  
He noticed his Beretta was gone too.  
"And our radios are gone."  
"Crap."  
He shone the flashlight around and saw shiny walls and sciency things that looked like they were straight out of Carter's dreams. At the same instant that Carter let go of him, a beam of red light enveloped him.  
"Sir, what's happening? Hold on..."  
For a second he was blind and numb all over and it felt like his head was in a vice. Then it was over and he was collapsing on the floor.  
"Ow," he said.  
Carter was hovering at his side hesitant to touch him.  
"Sir are you ok?"  
"Peachy. What was that?" he asked, standing up cautiously.  
"D'you remember Nirrti's genetic manipulation device?"  
"Yeeaahhh" he said, feeling sure he didn't like where she was going with this.  
"Well it did appear similar in nature, although not identical."  
"What are you saying Carter?"  
"It might have altered your DNA sir. Do you feel different?"  
He did a quick check and surmised he felt completely normal. He then pulled a rubber band from his pocket and tried to move it with his mind, just in case. Nope.  
"I feel completely normal."  
"I'm sorry I couldn't stop it sir. I tried to find some controls... There was nothing I could do."  
"Forget it Carter. It's fine."  
And then he wondered. "How long was I in that thing?"  
"About an hour," she confessed. "And sir."  
"Yes?"  
He felt something bad coming.  
"I can't find a way out."  
He sighed.  
"Although the lights are on now."  
"I noticed."  
"Well what did you do to get us down here?" she asked.  
"Carter... I don't know," he said, wondering why in the hell she might think he had any clue what he'd done. "Let's just look around."  
He looked around the room, eventually coming to a control board Carter was standing beside.  
"This appears to be the only input device," she said, touching the blank controls, "But it's dead."  
He brushed his hand over it and it lit it up like Christmas tree.  
"How did you...?"  
He shrugged. He then pressed a few random buttons and she slapped his hand away.  
"Sorry sir," she said looking sheepishly at him, "But we don't know what any of these controls do."  
"Well what were you going to do?"  
"Uh..."  
She looked at the array of buttons, switches and dials in front of her. "Ok, good point. I have no idea."  
"That big one?" he suggested.  
She shrugged and pressed it. A flash of light consumed them and a moment later they were on the surface. It was pitch black. He shivered.  
"It's night."  
Her voice sounded only mildly concerned. 

He shone his flashlight around. He only just caught a glimpse of something moving before a heavy body hit him. A sudden sharp pain flared in his arm. He staggered but managed to stay standing. He grabbed his knife and shoved it into the thing as hard as he could manage. He followed up with a savage internal slash. It screamed horrifically, made a hissing noise and was gone.  
"Carter, any weapons around?"  
"What was that?!"  
"It looked like a giant, ugly, black cat."  
"I can't find anything. I have my knife sir."  
He couldn't find his weapons either. And there was no sign of Daniel or Teal'c. But the flashlight revealed something that made his stomach drop. Hundreds of pairs of eyes glowing as the beam of his flashlight passed over them. And dark shapes moving towards them. A lot of dark shapes. Shit. A knife wouldn't go very far in this situation. He reckoned they'd take a fair few cats with them though. He glimpsed long limbs and flashes of teeth and claws. And the hissing. So much hissing all around them. 

Ok Jack focus. He did what he did best and in a split second had assessed the situation. No Daniel or Teal'c. No guns. Dark. Cold. They weren't going to be able to figure out the transporter to the lab quickly enough. And an advancing horde of deadly looking big cats.  
"Grab your knife Carter, we're running for it," he whispered.  
He grabbed her arm and pulled her into a run. He headed for the water close by where there seemed to be a small gap. He ripped his flashlight from his vest and threw it in the opposite direction as they ran, now going by memory alone into the pitch black. He could hear hissing up close behind them. They bumped into stones and walls. Stumbled over roots and uneven ground. A loud hiss sounded close to his right ear and he swung his knife blindly and connected with something. Suddenly they fell into the now very cold river. He could almost feel Carter's shock along with his own, the way the cold pushed breath from their bodies. They helped each other out of the water on the other side and ran. They ran blindly. Smashing loudly through undergrowth. Hissing followed behind them. A loud crash came rather close and Carter yelped in pain followed by a screech from a cat as she presumably hit back.  
"Come on," he grabbed her and pulled her on.


	3. Chapter 3

They ran and ran and ran, unseeing, stumbling, driving on wildly through undergrowth, until the hissing faded.  
"Wait sir."  
Carter paused briefly and let go of his hand. She switched the flashlight attatched to her vest on.  
"Come on Carter," he urged, yanked her sleeve.  
They ran until Jack was fairly confident they weren't being followed. Unless they were being silently stalked but he didn't want to think about that. Then he switched Carter's flashlight off in case it attracted more of them. He could feel small scratches all over his face and arms from running face first through the undergrowth, and a much larger more painful scratch on his arm that throbbed. He could hear Carter panting in the darkness close to him. Shit, he needed a plan. She was about to ask him and he needed to say something. Fight? Not going to do much good. Run? Get help? Possibly. Hide? And then what? Sneak back? Tempting but risky and he couldn't bear the thought of getting dead and leaving Carter here alone.  
"Sir?"  
There was a hint of uncertainty she was trying to hide in her voice.  
"Right." He used his confident voice, and hoped she couldn't read right through it. "We are going to make a wide circle, eventually heading to the gate, hopefully avoiding those... cat things."  
"Ok."  
"Then we are going to get ourselves a whole heap of firepower and find Daniel and Teal'c."  
"Maybe they're already heading that way."  
"They'll still have their weapons."  
They were both trying to feel hopeful that their team mates were fine.  
"Now. Sit-rep Carter. How are you?"  
"Fine. But I got a little scratch on my shoulder back there. What about you sir?"  
"Little scratch on my arm. It's nothing."  
"We should probably dress them before moving on."  
"Sure. You got a first aid kit on you?"  
"It's in my bag."  
"Oh nice, when did you pick that up?"  
"Just before we ran. Thought it might come in useful sir. Light?"  
"I guess we need it for this."  
The light came on and revealed Carter pulling a first aid kit from her bag. He let her look at his arm which was a bit worse than he'd imagined. She cleaned it and dressed it then handed the kit to him.  
"Can you take a look at my shoulder sir?"  
"It'd be my pleasure."  
Carter had to unclip her flashlight and he attatched it to his vest. He carefully helped her remove her tactical vest and jacket. It would have been much worse if she hadn't been wearing them. The scratch looked painful but not too deep, thankfully. He cleaned and dressed it as carefully as he could, wincing when she sucked in breath from pain.  
"Done."  
"Thanks."  
"So what else is in this bag?" he asked, putting the first aid kit away and helping her on with her clothes.  
"Not much I'm afraid," she said taking the bag off him and having a search through it. "Some of my stuff was in the tent and some fell out as we ran. There's a couple of space blankets though, and some emergency rations. My water canteens, thank god. A couple of my notebooks. Some water purification tablets. And, I think that's all, sorry."  
"No guns in there?"  
"Sorry sir."  
"Never mind. It's a good job you grabbed it. We're gonna need it."  
"I think we're going to get a bit cold. The temperature has dropped considerably since the sun went down, we're wet and you aren't wearing very much sir."  
He took the bag from her and attatched it to his back.  
"That's why I'm suggesting a nice brisk jog. Warm us up. What d'ya say Carter?"  
She smiled. 

It wasn't exactly jogging. It was too hard under these conditions. It was just a brisk pace, not too carefully picking their way through thick undergrowth and tangled roots. But at least it was keeping him warm. His plan was to head West for a bit to get a safe distance from the ruins, then head South for a few klicks. Hopefully then it would just be a trip Eastwards to find the gate. He still had his compass, thankfully, so at least they wouldn't be going in circles.

They kept going until Carter needed a rest. And he did too to be honest. Not that she said anything, he could just tell.  
"We rest and eat. Ok?"  
"Yup," she said brightly.  
He appreciated the positive attitude. It really helped when he wasn't feeling so positive himself. They sat and had an energy bar. They sat in the dark without the flashlight, just in case it attracted unwanted attention. Carter got out a space blanket and wrapped it around her shoulders. She was wet and cold. Hell, they both were. Especially when they stopped. Carter was right, it was substantially colder now it was dark, and still just as humid. It would be unlikely to give them hypothermia, it would just be unpleasant. If they kept moving they'd be ok. But he doubted they would ever dry off. He listened to the noises surrounding them and let Carter rest some more. He was listening out for hissing, but all he could hear was the buzzing, the beeping, the hooting, and the chattering. He tried to imagine bugs and monkeys and birds making those sounds, and not a wide range of carnivorous alien creatures. Where it had been silent and dead in the day, it was teeming with life at night. And he couldn't see any of it. 

He felt her relax and decided it was time to get going.  
"Ready to go?" he asked.  
_Oh get lost. No._  
He laughed in shock and amusement, "What did you just say?"  
"What?"  
"What?" he parroted, confused.  
"I didn't say anything sir."  
"Um."  
He was really confused now. And probably just really tired.  
"Ready to go sir," she said, and he turned the flashlight on to see her packing the blanket away.  
"Shall I carry for a bit?" she offered.  
"No I'm fine for now," he said. "But I'll let you know." 

They continued and Jack picked a medium walking pace. They were fit but not that fit and the going was so tough it might take them a day or even two to get around and back to the gate. They couldn't push themselves too hard. 

He wanted a bit more distance from the ruins before changing direction, so they kept to the line they were on. It was slow and began to get hilly with steep ups and downs they couldn't avoid. He focused primarily on putting one foot in front of the other, and tried to put other worries out of his mind. 

Jack found it more and more difficult to focus as the day went on. He became increasingly distracted by how tired Carter was. He didn't really know why. She hadn't said anything, and she could usually deal with this kind of exertion. He just found himself constantly thinking about how tired she was, tired and trying not to worry or show weakness, which was pretty typical. When they stopped for a break he could feel the relief surging from her. He had this niggle in the back of his mind that this was slightly more than the usual wordless understanding they often shared between them, but it was too low on his priority list to ponder about further. He arbitrarily decided it was time to switch directions and found a bearing on the compass. The problem was, it was still possible to miss the gate by a long way depending on the bearing of his original escape dash. But he'd worry about that later. 

They were headed more and more uphill now, which was almost impossible in the near dark with masses of thick jungle plant life in the way. Jack could feel Carter's spirit flagging so decided saying stupid things would be the route to go. It sort of worked. She chuckled weakly at a few of them. He could tell she had started thinking when she went quiet and he failed to get even a derisive snort from her.  
"Sir, I was thinking. Why aren't these cats everywhere? Why were there so many at the ruins? And why didn't they follow us?"  
"They like archeology?"  
"Well I was wondering if they might stay around areas with running water and perhaps they also prefer the open when they aren't sleeping... during the day."  
"I'd rather not think about it."  
"I just think we should avoid water and open areas and stick to the thick jungle."  
"Ok Carter, good idea. How are we doing for water though?"  
"We're OK for now if we ration it a bit."  
"Ok. Maybe we'll find a spring."  
"Yes sir."  
It was unlikely, and he suspected they'd have to go out of their way to find water if they didn't happen across any soon, not to mention the fun of then risking their lives just filling the water bottle. 

They trudged on, now skirting the edge of a steep rise halfway up, clinging to vines and trees in order to not fall into inky blackness. They slipped a few times but didn't do much damage to themselves. However Jack started to get concerned that each time either he or Carter slipped, he felt a sense of alarm that he was sure wasn't his own. He tried not thinking about it, as the implications were disturbing. However it wasn't long before he was forced to address the issue. 

They had just climbed a fairly big steep hill and were panting at the top.  
"Ok?" he checked.  
"Great." _Terrible, I need a lie down. And a warm bath. Please don't make me go any further._  
"What?"  
"Er, I said great."  
"No you said something about a bath. Didn't you?"  
"No."  
He felt a sudden spike of alarm in his mind that definitely wasn't his.  
"You didn't?" he asked.  
"No. I definitely didn't say anything about a bath."  
"You said you wanted a lie down and a bath and that you didn't want to go any further."  
That feeling of alarm increased.  
"I thought those things but I didn't say them sir."  
"Are you sure?"  
"I'm very sure. Do you know what this means?"  
"Yes and I don't like it."  
"How do you think I feel?!"  
Oh this was terrible. It was that damn...  
"Genetic manipulation device do you think?" she queried.  
"I think," he agreed.  
They stood in silence. Shit. Oh well maybe it would have some upsides.  
"Can you tell what I'm thinking now?" she asked.  
He stared at her, intently trying to hear something. Nothing.  
"No."  
"Oh well that's a relief."  
"Maybe it only works when you think loudly."  
She chuckled. "I'll try and think quietly then sir."  
"Ok."  
Good. Now that was sorted, should they sleep? He checked his watch. They'd been working for half a morning (Earth time) and then jungle trekking for the rest of the day and now it was late evening. Here felt like a good place. It somehow felt a bit safer being higher up, even if that was just wishful thinking. 

They made camp under a small dense tree with soft leafy earth at its base. Well, it wasn't much of a camp, just a space blanket spread out to lie on and another one reserved for their blanket. They were going to have to share but he was trying not to think about that yet. They sat in the dark and ate some rations. Carter lay back and he felt bliss and relief. Oh he really didn't want to have this conversation but she deserved to know.  
"Carter, I think I can feel your emotions."  
There was a pause and he could feel a mix of curiosity and mild embarrassment.  
"Oh."  
"I'm sorry. Jeez this is weird."  
"It's not your fault sir. And I don't really mind."  
"We'll fix it. We'll get back to those ruins and you'll figure something out."  
"Yes sir."  
He felt warmth from her. 

They finished eating and Jack decided to take first watch. He could do it lying down. They shared the blanket and he ordered Carter to sleep closer to keep them both warm. She curled up with her back pressed against his side. They were both soaking wet, which was highly unpleasant, but couldn't be helped. He lay looking up into blackness, picking out a few stars through the blackness of the trees above, and listened intently for hissing or any kind of movement. He flashed his torch at random noises but saw nothing. He could tell Carter was still awake. She was pretending to be asleep but he could feel her mind buzzing.  
"Go to sleep Carter," he said patting her hip.  
_Damn it._ "Trying sir."  
He left his hand on her. He figured it might help her relax as well as keep her warm but it had the opposite effect. Her mind was spiky and irritated with a background of something hot and tingly. Pleasure? Um. He moved his hand away quickly. Oh hell. New rule. No touching. He refocused on jungle noises and eventually felt her mind dim and grow fuzzy.


	4. Chapter 4

He let her sleep as long as he could before feeling fatigue urging him to sleep. He woke Carter and felt her mind spike into his, uncomfortably aware of just how much she didn't want to be awake right now. Jack curled up beside her. It was unpleasantly cold.  
"Sorry, I need my beauty sleep Carter."  
"That's fine sir."  
It was a lie but he wouldn't hold it against her. He went to sleep quickly and dreamt about quark stars. He had no idea what a quark star was. 

He'd set an alarm to wake himself because Carter always let him sleep too long. She was lying there thinking about some scientific research she'd left in her lab. He smiled to himself. Then he realised he could hear pretty much everything she was thinking.  
_Was the frequency different?_ he heard her wondering.  
"Was the frequency different?" he asked.  
"Holy..."  
"Sorry Carter."  
"You're awake."  
"Yes. And ready for my fruit loops."  
"And you heard me think that?"  
"Obviously."  
_Smart ass._  
"Hey. I'm me!" he shrugged.  
She wasn't wrong.  
"Crap."  
"My thoughts exactly. Just more eloquently put."  
That made her laugh at least.  
"Let's worry about this later," she said sensibly. 

They got up and packed their stuff.  
"We need to find water sir."  
"I know. Is this not bothering you?"  
"What?"  
"Me having direct access to Carter TV?"  
"Well yeah." _Things can't be that bad if he's back to making jokes again. Just don't think anything you don't want him knowing._  
Good idea.  
"So, don't leave me hangin' Carter. Was the frequency different?"  
"What? Oh. Um. I don't think so sir. The change could probably be attributed to alternating polarisation," she smiled.  
"Great! Glad to hear it."

They shared an energy bar and got going. They had to find water today, and they'd have to go by sound and get very, very lucky.  
"Carter how long could this night last?"  
"You don't want to know sir."  
"Humour me."  
"Well sir, it's hard to say exactly how long the day/night cycle is. It's obviously longer than on Earth and a few days at best."  
"And worst?"  
"It could be similar to Venus which takes 243 days to rotate. It depends on how long it takes the planet to complete a full rotation on its axis..."  
She stopped. _Why isn't he telling me to shut up?_  
They both then thought the same thing at the same time. Because it's better than hearing her thinking. New plan. Let Carter ramble on about whatever she wants to.  
"And...?"  
"And a day on Venus is actually longer than a year because it takes longer for it to complete a full rotation on its axis than for it to travel around the sun. And interestingly ( _or not_ ) it spins the opposite way to most planets including ours, meaning the sun rises in the west and sets in the east."  
It went on like this and he didn't mind.

They were going down now, slipping and sliding, or trying not to, down a steep earthy slope. At least there were lots of vines to hold on the way down, and a chance of a water if they kept going down.  
_Water!_ "Can you hear that sir?"  
"Water?"  
"Yes. I think so."  
"Right. Take the flashlight, and I'll follow you."  
They proceeded slowly and as quietly as they could manage in the dark, and they wandered a bit while Carter figured out where it was coming from. She had better ears than him.  
It didn't take too long to find a small splashing stream. They stood nervously close by and waited. She switched their flashlight off and they listened. They waited more. Nothing. There was no sound. No hissing anyway, just trickling water and background jungle noises.  
"Give me the bottles. I'll do it," he whispered. He fumbled in their bag and got the bottles.  
"Right. Stay there. And if you need me just... think really loudly."  
He stalked forward carefully with his knife in one hand. He found the stream by splashing into it loudly and winced. He filled the water bottles hurridly and headed back. He wasnt sure if he'd just got super lucky or if the stream wasnt big enough to attract cats in numbers. Finding her was easy, he just followed the anxious thoughts. They stuck a couple of water purifying tablet in them and moved on quickly. 

It was getting weirder now. She'd stopped chatting and was just thinking. And that wasn't good. He tried really hard not to pay attention but it was kind of impossible not too. She thought a lot about the cats, and what might happen if they got her. Or him. She thought about Daniel and Teal'c. She worried about Jack's new ability. She was actually more concerned with what it meant for him rather than worrying about him reading her mind, which was touching. That's not to say she wasn't also concerned about her Commanding Officer being able to read her mind.  
_Are you getting all this?_ he heard her wonder.  
"Um."  
_Oh be honest. That's clearly a yes._  
"Yeah."  
_Damn._  
"But I'm not paying attention!"  
"Does it seem stronger than it was? Because it wasn't immediate was it?"  
"No it came on slowly. It does seem to be getting more... loud."  
"Hmm." _I hope it's not going to just keep growing stronger and stronger, as that could have lots of unpleasant implications. He'd go insane._  
Wonderful. Now he knew what happened when she said hmm and started thinking. He preferred not knowing.  
"Carter. Can you please think about wormholes or something?"  
"On it sir."  
They walked. Or more accurately, they trudged through the dark, and Jack listened to Carter thinking about astrophysics, or what he guessed was astrophysics anyway. 

It was a tough day and things were starting to get strained. Carter was trying so hard to keep control of her thoughts but as she became tired it became more difficult. At least the terrain was flatter. Although that brought its own problems.  
They came across a mangrove like area they thought it best to avoid but it was huge and skirting it would mean adding a lot to their journey. He couldn't help noticing Carter's irritation. He was tempted to go through it and spare them some time.  
"Its not a completely open space Carter. It's got trees. And the water is still."  
She didn't have to say anything. He could hear her worry.  
"Let's just take a closer look," he said.  
He crept forward. She hung back warily. They both heard it at the same time. Hissing filled the darkness, making his hair stand on end, coming from somewhere ahead of them in the swamp. He felt her tense up with fear. He knew she must feel afraid sometimes, probably often, but she did such a good job of hiding it, it shocked him to feel it, and made him feel suddenly a lot more protective of her.  
"We go around."

He was grumpy now and trying not to let it show. Actually, it was Carter too. She was fed up and it was affecting his mood. He couldn't blame her though. It was muddy and hard going and now a lot further than they had anticipated. He was also getting very, very tired of the dark. His eyes were tired from straining to see, and he'd started to see shapes in the blankness. Black on black. Nothing was there. It was just... too much black. His entire world existed in the beam of a flashlight. 

By the end of the day they were both quite irritable. Jack was blaming himself for not having a better plan, and getting stuck in that machine, as well as various other things. Carter was blaming herself for, well, everything. And they were cold. And wet. And tired. And sick of the dark. And hungry for real food. He did what he usually did in situations like this. He pushed himself harder. They needed this done. They needed to get to the gate. He pushed them onwards. It might have been what he needed, and what was best for them, but it wasn't what Carter needed or wanted. She called him a bad word in her head, and he silently forgave her but didn't let up. To her credit she didn't complain out loud. She never would, unless he was seriously messing something up. She just trudged along behind him, almost unashamedly thinking angry thoughts at him. 

When they stopped for the night, Carter was dead on her feet. The mental effort of controlling her every thought was leaving her more fatigued than she would otherwise be, and the stress of it was starting to get to her a little. He'd hear her fighting her own mind, getting angry at loose flying thoughts. Especially the ones about him, and they weren't all negative. There was one interesting one about his silhouette by flashlight. But fighting it seemed to make it worse for her. Now they stopped, her mind didn't even have the trekking to focus on. He tried really hard to think about hockey. 

He let her sleep first. Or that was the plan anyway. He could tell immediately that she wasn't going to be able to sleep. Her mind was racing. So when she offered to swap he obliged. He couldn't go straight off, but pretended to so she could relax. He figured if she thought he was asleep, her mind could relax. It worked. He slowed his breathing right down and relaxed his body and felt her relax with him. He soon drifted off to her thinking about that warm bath she wanted so badly, and the large fluffy towel that would follow. Nice. 

She woke him and he was immediately aware of her feeling guilty about it. But she was clearly tired and struggling to stay awake. She gave him the flashlight and curled up in a ball. It was even colder now, he was sure. He felt her thoughts quickly go fuzzy and soft. It was kind of sweet really. He was worried about her though, about how hard this was on her, and about their relationship surviving this. Working... working relationship. How could anybody cope under that much scrutiny? If it was the other way around it would be terrible. Nobody deserved to be judged on their innermost thoughts. Thoughts were often like dreams, they couldn't be controlled. Sure, you could decided what to dwell on, but those flashes that invaded... Not even those Buddhist dudes could control those. He was actually pretty impressed at just how strong she was. He always wondered what she was thinking underneath all that obedience and 'yes sir'ing. She was genuinely good natured and not at all mean. Grumpy sometimes. Irritable too. But understandably. There hadn't been much to surprise him. Well, the snarky comments to herself were a nice surprise. But apart from that, it was just the same old Carter, but just... more.

After a couple of hours he noticed he was shivering. He then noticed Carter shivering too. Damn it. He turned and snuggled up to her back.  
_Cold._  
"I know," he whispered.  
She was in that place between waking and sleeping.  
_Really cold._  
He wrapped an arm around her and shuffled himself closer.  
_Tighter. Hold me. Warm me up._  
He did automatically, pulling her body tighter against his, and felt warm pleasure radiating from her. He felt guilty. 

She slept and he tried to not enjoy the closeness too much. Was it wrong to do what her mind wanted, if she hadn't actually said it? She'd never have asked him that out loud. It felt wrong somehow, but he'd done it before he could stop himself. And now they were warmer so... Where's the harm? He tried to convince himself. 

He let her sleep late. Her mind needed the rest. He amused himself with his go-to which was reciting Simpsons episodes. He knew the second she was awake.  
_Mmm, this is so nice. Jack. Smells so good._ There was a waft of pleasure from her mind to his.  
Jack?  
"Good morning, sleepyhead," he said, before things got more awkward.  
_Oh crap._ "How long did you let me sleep?" she asked getting up, covering her embarrassment well.  
"Three hours longer than I should have. But don't argue, you needed it."  
"Probably."  
He then ignored her trying not to think about what she thought upon waking and if he'd noticed and if he was now noticing this. She whimpered in frustration. Poor Sam. 

She then thought furiously about black holes and other things, as they packed up, had what constituted breakfast around here, and headed out.  
_Baryonic and non-baryonic matter. Protons, neutrons, axions. Free streaming length. Stellar nucleosynthesis. N-body simulations. Degeneracy pressure. Accretion discs. Active galactic nuclei._  
It hurt his head. 

They badly needed to find the gate today. He figured they needed to go a bit further South today, then head East to find the gate. Somehow. Just a bit further. Hopefully without needing to stay another night. Not in this jungle. Not in this darkness. Not with Carter's mind screaming in his head. And she needed a break too. 

Carter eventually ran out of science to think about. She then tried to work out if she could invent something that detected stargates, but only using the items they had on her. She really tried, despite knowing from the start that was ridiculous. Then it became a muddle of complaining about the dark, and cold, and putting one foot in front of the other, and trying not to think about things that ached and hurt like the blisters on her feet and the sting of her shoulder that still hadn't gone away. He realised they hadn't redone their bandages at all.  
"Want me to check your shoulder Carter?"  
"Yes, I was just thinking about that wasn't I?"  
"It's no problem."  
"No it's ok sir." _They probably should be changed._  
"Um. Which is it Carter?"  
"Damn it sir! Well yes they should be changed. Of course."  
She sounded defeated and he felt so sorry for her.  
"Sure?"  
He raised a comical eyebrow at her, which usually got a smile, before remembering she couldn't really see his face and wasnt looking at him anyway.  
"Yeah," she said weakly.  
He hated seeing one of his team so demoralised. And someone he cared about.  
"It's ok Carter."  
He didn't know what else to say. If there was something to fight. Something to do. But this was just... He got the first aid kit and positioned himself behind her. Right. Carter's mind was numb and thinking vaguely about bandages. He pulled her jacket and vest down off one shoulder, removed the dressing and took a look.  
"It looks great Carter, nice and pink. Not too angry looking. No extra bleeding."  
"Thanks." _Lovely gentle fingers. Shut up!_  
He replaced her dressing feeling self-conscious. Then he decided to check his arm and got halfway through before needing an extra hand which Carter provided wordlessly. Well. Sort of.


	5. Chapter 5

They pressed on. Now he was getting desperate. He had to do something. Every single thought she had knifed into his brain and she was unhappy. He was feeling her emotions as if they were his own. He decided it couldn't possibly be right, and what whoever made that thing had intended. He had an idea. He started singing. Her mind spiked in shock and amusement for a moment before she surprised him and joined in. It was an improvement. It was embarrassing but a lot easier. They made their way through every song they both knew and made fairly good progress. Why hadn't he thought of this earlier? When they started running out of songs they moved onto Christmas carols. He decided this was in contention for the most ridiculous situation he had ever been in.

They finally hit the point where Jack wanted to head gatewards. It felt to him like a mental turning point and gave him second wind. Not so with Carter. She lagged behind while he tried to push them on. Still no complaining, at least not outloud anyway, just a wildly wandering mind and lots of fatigue. And she'd stopped joining in the singing. 

"Oh the weather outside is frightful, but the fire is so delightful, and since we've no place to go, let it snow, let it snow, let it snow."  
_Snow would be nice. Fire would be nice too. Are we nearly there yet? Don't be a child Sam._  
"It doesn't show signs of stopping, and I've brought some corn for popping. The lights are turned way down low. Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow"  
_Mmm popcorn. I'm hungry... for real god damn food for once. In fact screw popcorn, I want pizza._  
"When we finally kiss goodnight, how I hate going out in the storm, but if you really hold me tight, all the way home I'll be warm."  
_Kissing Jack. Holding me tight. Mmmm. Shit! Shitshitshitshitshit!_  
"I can't do this anymore sir," she almost whimpered. "I'm done."  
There was no fight left in her. He wanted so badly just to hold her but was afraid of making it worse.  
"This is really not fair," she moaned, "And I'm so tired of fighting my thoughts. It's not FAIR."  
She kicked a nearby tree. He couldn't blame her. She had every right to lose it.  
"Do you want to split up?" he asked quietly, not wanting the answer.  
"What?"  
"I could go on, you could..."  
He didn't really know what he was suggesting, it was impractical.  
"As tempting as that is sir, we only have one torch and it's highly likely one or both of us would get lost." _If we aren't already._  
Her mind veered off, thinking dark thoughts about her own traitorous and uncontrollable mind as well as their situation, which to her seemed hopeless now.  
"Carter."  
She wasn't listening.  
"SAM!"  
That got her attention.  
"Stop being so hard on yourself! Have you any idea what my mind is like?! We're both very lucky it wasn't the other way around."  
_Not sure about that sir._  
"You are not doing anything wrong, OKAY? There is nothing you haven't thought that I haven't thought worse."  
_Oh I highly doubt... wait, this is Jack... Really?_  
"I'm serious. Let's see... Disobeying orders, punching Daniel, retiring, killing aliens just for being so damn irritating, giving up and not being the hero for once, playing Simpsons episodes in my head instead of listening to briefings or boring political meetings, and thinking about you, in extremely inappropriate ways, and often at extremely inappropriate times too."  
_What?! Oh god._  
"Carter, we all think inappropriate thoughts. Thinking is not a crime."  
_Acting on it would be another thing._  
"Exactly. I'll never hold you accountable for thoughts you can't help Carter, and I intend to get amnesia when we get home and forget all this ever happened."  
She laughed out loud, which was nice. "That'd be... I'd be grateful sir." _But I still can't stop myself..._  
"Ah!"  
_But I..._  
"No!"  
She sighed internally, and for a second her mind was still, before it all came tumbling back out. But he let her, sensing the slightly eased thoughts and figuring it was normal to go over conversations in your head.  
"Let's go Carter." 

They continued and she argued with herself about all the things he just said. There was some really quite heavy, deep things in there too that it was pointless trying to avoid listening to. He was just as tired as she was trying to fight it. There were flashes of depression, not working with him anymore, losing him, losing herself in her work, missing out, getting older, letting him down or worse letting the planet down, not being perfect, being with him, not being with him, joy, marriage, hot kinky sex, fishing, having kids, not having kids, Jacob, Daniel, Teal'c, Cassie, her mom, pain, love, her passions, wanting her cake and eating it too.  
_Oh god, cake, yummy coffee and walnut cake, mmmmm._  
He smiled and decided he was legitimately in love with this woman, because if he could still have those feelings after hearing all her inner thoughts, well...

Her mind was calmer now. She spent a long time daydreaming quite contentedly about redecorating her house, and then her perfect motorbike road trip, and then what on the menu in the mess she wanted the most right now. It was nice, almost comforting, and kept them both plodding on.

Jack was starting to get worried though. They should have found the gate by now. Which meant it was either North of them or South of them, and he didn't know which. He trod slower and slower and could feel Carter getting concerned. Eventually he had to admit it. He stopped.  
_Don't tell me we're lost. Please._  
She sounded close to being desperate. He turned to her.  
"I'm sure it's North of here."  
_No you're not._  
"I..."  
Damn.  
"It's ok sir," she said, the sir nearly coming out with a sob.  
Her hopelessness was invading his mind so much he couldn't find his own feelings. He had no other option but to step forward and pull her into a tight hug. Screw it.  
Her mind sighed, and was instantly comforted. What had he been so afraid of? The warmth and pleasure coming from her mind swirled with his own and he didn't want to let her go. It was intoxicating. He stroked her back and kissed the side of her head. A blissful feeling spiked in his head. She was enjoying it. It was so good, that all he wanted to do now was continue making her happy and feeling the result in his mind. He found himself wondering just how amazing it could get? No. Bad Jack. Stop.  
"Sir?"  
"Um. Sorry," he muttered, letting her go. He couldn't bring himself to explain.  
"Right, North Carter. We're nearly there." He put on his commanding voice and it worked. Her mind jumped to attention. He desperatly hoped his gut instinct would lead them to the gate, but Carter didn't need to know how unsure he was.

They hadn't gone very far North before Jack suddenly veered off course.  
"What is it?"  
"I don't know. Just a feeling."  
They followed his feeling, and after only a couple of minutes he realised what had been guiding him and he was absolutely sure.  
"Daniel. Teal'c. This way!"  
The relief from Carter was almost overwhelming.  
They rushed now. He could feel the presence of his team mates stronger and stronger the closer they got.  
They stumbled into a large clearing with a burst of joy, and quickly backed up into the cover of jungle. The gate was in darkness, but he could see some light close to it in the centre of the clearing. He knew it was the rest of his team.  
"Are there cats between here and there sir?" Carter asked, feeling real fear.  
He tried to tell himself sternly that it wasn't his own fear, but some of it genuinely was.  
"Honestly. I don't know. But Daniel and Teal'c have obviously been holding them off and are armed."  
"We run for it?"  
"I'd say so."  
They armed themselves with their knives.  
_Good luck sir._  
"Ok, go."  
And they ran. Straight into a mass of cats. Hundreds of them surrounded the gate. Carter's spike of panic was quickly replaced with focused aggression as her training kicked in. They ran, not stopping to fight, only slashing knives at anything hissing or scratching or moving in their way. He felt bursts of pain as claws or teeth ripped flesh, Carter's as well as his. Then came a sense of alert from ahead of them. Weapons fire. All they could do was duck their heads and keep running, trusting in their team mates not to shoot them.  
The cats backed off warily, and then they were beside Daniel and Teal'c, borrowing sidearms and firing into the mass of hissing black shapes. The four of them backed up carefully till they reached the gate.  
"We are relatively safe here. They do not approach the gate," Teal'c informed them. All at once everybody begun thinking and talking loudly.  
"Jack! Sam! Where the hell have you been?" _Thank god. Oh thank god they're OK._  
"I am very glad to see you both." _Where have they been? How did they survive without weapons?_  
"What happened to you guys?" _I just want go home. I just want go home. I just want go home. Am I bleeding?_  
"No but seriously, where have you been?" _We were starting to think you were you dead._  
"We were attacked by many large creatures." _I killed 57._  
"The Colonel found the lab." _And now he can read my mind. And probably yours too._  
His head pounded.  
"Shhhhhhhhh! SHUSH!"  
They all stared at him.  
"Can you all PLEASE shut up and TRY to think more quietly."  
He was suddenly unbelievably tired. His team's confused thoughts spun in his head. Well apart from Carter. She was easier to focus on, her mind a calmer voice in his head, thinking quiet concern about him. He sat down on the gate steps and put his head in his hands.  
"Daniel. As succinctly as you can manage. Please tell me what happened."  
_Rude._ "Wouldn't this suit the briefing room better?"  
"Not really. I have a feeling I'm not going to be much use to anyone after I step through the gate."  
"Ok then? You remember I went to fetch one of my note books from our tent? Well when I got back you were both gone. Teal'c and I looked around a bit... We guessed you found a way into the lab but we couldn't figure out how. That's when the sun went down... very quickly. Really quickly. As soon as it was dark the cats came, and I mean the second it got dark. I'm sorry by the way. There were cats carved all over the ruins. I just assumed it was... I don't know. I'm sorry I missed it." _I couldn't have forgiven myself if you'd died._  
"Daniel, its ok. Nobody would think some pictures of cats meant those beasts."  
"Ok."  
Daniel still felt guilty, but he continued. "Well anyway, they swarmed the ruins, and attacked. We fought them but were forced to, er, run away."  
"I did not run away," Teal'c interrupted.  
"Ok. We relocated. It was impossible to hold the ruins. We killed a, um, fair number of them, I think, but they were on our heals all the way back to the gate. They actually seem to be afraid of it, which is interesting..."  
"Daniel Jackson fought most bravely."  
"Er, thanks Teal'c, you too. So, anyway, um... We tried to reach you by radio but... We decided you probably either had 'relocated', like we had, or you were in the lab, and would regroup at the gate. Oh, but we did assume you had weapons. We decided to wait here for you for a while. Give you a chance to get here. And assist if needed. That's it."  
"Thanks Daniel."  
"Great, can we please go home already?" Carter was full of impatience and exhaustion. He kind of liked her snarky side.  
"But what happened to you guys?!" _Is nobody going to tell me?_  
"I'll tell you later," Carter said, already dialing home.  
As soon as the gate was open, she wasted no time in inputing their IDC and went straight through. He could hear her thoughts. There was no way he was going to stop her. He stood and let the guys go in front of him. 

Silence. Beautiful silence. He was almost tempted to stay. He was pretty sure of what was going to happen when he arrived in the gate room and he wasn't looking forward to it. The hissing shapes around the gate urged him to leave. He took a deep breath. And stepped forward


	6. Chapter 6

The first thing he saw in the gate room were all the overly bright lights. Jeez, ow. Then Carter was looking at him concerned.  
_Are you ok sir?_  
Was he ok? No, not really. The voices. The minds. They started as urgent whispers and swelled until it felt like there were rampaging elephants in his head. He groaned and sat down right there on the ramp.  
"Medics to the gate room!"  
There was too much in his head. Too much. Too many. Too loud. Where was Jack? He could hear screaming. Then he realised it was him. He saw Carter's worried face but couldn't pick her mind out from the tumult. 

He must have kept passing out, as life followed in chaotically painful snippets. Being wheeled on a gurney. Hectic shouting. Panicked thoughts. Many, many worries, and the mundane. Then a small quiet voice he recognised, telling him he would be ok. He focused on it. 

On waking again in the infirmary, a multitude of jumbled thoughts pressed for attention in his head. He almost felt like vomiting. Dr Fraiser was there, probably asking him stuff, but he couldn't hear over the frenzy. He searched for Carter's mind and found her telling him to hold on, that she would make it quieter. 

Before he opened his eyes again, he knew it was quieter. What had she done? And how? He could hear Carter, close to him, dreaming fuzzily. It was comforting to hear her mind. He'd got used to it. And there was Daniel sleeping, and Teal'c's calm mind. And past them was Janet Fraiser doing a crossword puzzle and worrying about him. And even more distant, a concerned General Hammond and a couple of arguing gate room technicians as well as one or two bored airman on guard. Further out was a background hum of people but it was quiet enough that he could deal with it. This was ok. He noticed he had more bandages on his arms. He had barely noticed the cats slashing at him as he and Carter had made their final dash. He vaguely felt the pain, like a secondary concern in the back of his mind. He decided to sleep. He followed Carter's dreamy thoughts into oblivion.

When he woke again Janet was talking to Carter, who was sitting up in bed with a hospital gown on. Daniel was in the bed beyond Carter, quietly thinking about Nazcans and cats. Teal'c had gone, he couldn't even hear him.  
"Carter? You ok?"  
He moved himself to a sitting position.  
"Leg," she said pointing to her thigh, "But it's not too bad."  
She was a lot happier now, despite looking exhausted still.  
"How are you feeling now?" Janet asked him, coming over to his bed.  
"Peachy," he said. "I'm fine," he then added, knowing neither her or Carter had appreciated his first more flippant answer. "It's quieter thanks Carter."  
She wasn't surprised he knew what she'd done.  
"Good. Hammond evacuated most of the mountain. We're running on minimum staff."  
He felt an uncomfortable amount of guilt over the trouble the SGC had gone to just for him.  
"So can you read my mind now?" Janet asked, fascinated.  
"Sea world."  
"Wow. That's... a bit scary."  
_Tell me about it,_ Carter thought.  
"Janet," he beckoned her closer, for a private word. "How are these guys doing? Can you discharge them? Carter especially. She needs to rest, and I mean, properly, far away from me."  
He could hear Carter realising what he was asking and appreciating it, but wanting to stay and help somehow.  
"Yeah, I can see the benefit in that," Janet nodded.  
She turned to Daniel and Carter.  
"Right, you're both discharged. Keep your wounds dry for now. I'll send someone, or come myself, to check on you and change your dressings. You both need the rest, and the Colonel needs the peace."  
"How long for?" Carter asked "We need to get some teams together and get back there to fix you sir."  
"I'll be fine for a few days, you need to rest Carter. You need to not have me in your head for a while and you need to sleep in warm bed."  
She reluctantly accepted. Daniel was more than happy to leave, making Jack promise to call him back if he needed anything. Carter didn't say anything before leaving. She just touched his arm and thought about wanting to hug him. 

After they both left he asked Janet about the injuries his team had sustained. Teal'c had come out with superficial scratches only. Daniel had a pretty bad scratch down his back. Carter had the one shoulder wound he knew about, as well as a couple more on her back, and a large unpleasant bite on her leg. In addition she was dehydrated, had terrible blisters on her feet and some mild hypothermia. Janet also mentioned Carter was showing signs of moderate physical and emotional stress, but nothing that rest wouldn't hopefully fix. As for himself, he also had blisters, dehydration, mild hypothermia and a large number of wounds on his arms, but nothing deep enough to be permanently damaging. Janet also mentioned wanting to do an EEG. Well he had nothing better to do. Janet was interested in the unusual activity showing up. He was more interested in what went though the Doc's mind when she was working.  
"Sorry," he offered, uselessly, after she caught him staring at her curiously.  
"Doesn't bother me Colonel. I have nothing to hide," she said pragmatically. And she didn't. Her thoughts were very focused, only occasionally wandering off to mundane daily things and worrying about people.

He felt a bit lonely with everyone gone. There was no need to stay in the infirmary anymore, so he moved to his quarters. He pretty much single handedly sent a MALP through the gate to keep an eye out for sunrise. He also learnt some things about Hammond he'd rather not have known about, as well as too much detail about the relationship troubles of an unlucky airman. 

After a few days there was no luck with the planet. Jack was starting to go a little bit nuts. He tried to convince Hammond to let him go back and try and get into the laboratory again. Of course he was refused. Apparently sending one man into a pitch black jungle filled with hundreds of dangerous cat creatures was insane. Huh. He shrugged to himself. It wasn't as if he was planning on going without being heavily armed. 

Carter rang him one afternoon.  
"Sir I'd like to apologise."  
"Ah it's ok Carter."  
"No, I... I was extremely unprofessional."  
"Carter forget about it."  
"I'm sorry anyway sir. I know I didn't handle the physical and mental demands very well. I hope I didn't..."  
"Carter don't make me get mad at you, you didn't complain once. And no, the stuff in your head doesn't count. Jeez I hope it doesn't count. I'd have been dishonourably discharged years ago. I'll hear no more ok?"  
"Ok."  
There was silence, and a vague feeling of discomfort from her.  
"Can you read me from here?"  
"Not really."  
"Oh?"  
"I can just about feel your emotions if I focus."  
"Is there no sign of sunrise sir?"  
"No. I damn well hope I won't have to spend a year like this."  
"You could become a hermit."  
"I could do that."  
He felt her smile.  
"How are you doing Carter?"  
"Much better sir. It's nice being dry."  
"Oh god yes. Did you get your bath?"  
"Uh. Oh, yeah, absolutely."  
"Good."  
"You will let me know the second there is any change sir?"  
"Of course."

12 days after the sunset, finally sunrise. Jack couldn't help it. He went straight through on his own, despite Hammond forbidding him. He knew he'd be forgiven. Stepping through the gate, he'd somehow forgotten just how hot and humid it had been before night had fallen. There was absolutely no sign of any cats, or even that they'd been there. The clearing was still. The early sun made long shadows of the trees and the gate. The mist softened the edge of the rainforest. It was beautiful, incredibly quiet, and very, very disquieting. It was peaceful and eerie at the same time. He made his way down the path they had previously created. It was much easier going, but a lot more nerve wracking. Could he truly rely on them staying asleep all day? He got to the ruins and held his gun ready.  
"COME AND GET ME, YOU PUSSIES!" he shouted into the silence, figuring it was better to be sure.  
He waited. Nothing happened. Now he could relax a little. 

It didn't take too long to figure out the transporter into the lab. He just had to place his feet in a certain position. Why couldn't he have figured that out earlier? Looking at the controls for the Genetic Manipulation Device, he knew immediately that he'd have to wait for the others. It was way above randomly pressing buttons. He went back up, stripped down to his trunks, and went for a blissful dip in the river. 

He knew the second they were on the planet. He felt them. They were quicker than he expected, meaning Hammond must have rushed them through.  
"Jack? You there?" Daniel crackled on his radio.  
He reached out a wet arm towards the rock he'd left his radio on.  
"Yeah."  
What else was there to say?  
"Couldn't wait for us huh?"  
"Clearly. Hurry up."

He felt Carter the loudest. Then Daniel and Teal'c underneath. He was also pretty sure Hammond had insisted SG-3 join them and guard the gate, as he could vaguely sense more minds. He couldn't help but focus on Carter's mind as it seemed to dominate his own. Her emotions of concern and determination got stronger and stronger. When they eventually stumbled into the clearing he was sensing Teal'c's calm focus, Daniel's surprisingly blasé attitude, and Carter... well she was mostly thinking about him. He waved. They trudged over and looked down at him jealously.  
"Howdy folks," he waved.  
"We're here to rescue you," Daniel said with more than a little irritation, "So if you could look a little bit less relaxed that would be great, thanks."  
Jack just grinned at him and got out and pulled his clothes on. He tried and failed to ignore his team's thoughts.  
"Right, so, can we fix my brain now please?"  
_Which bit?_  
He glared at Daniel who looked a little chagrined.  
He couldn't look at Carter. She was so on guard and so determined to be stronger this time and he was scared of ruining it.  
He showed the others how the transport worked. For some reason only he could activate it. They left Teal'c to guard. The big guy just wanted to kill more cats. He had thought of it like a rather fun sport. In the lab Daniel and Carter quickly got distracted with all the shiny stuff.  
Jack sighed.  
"Are you gonna help me or would you like me reading your minds for the rest of our lives?"  
That came out harsher than he intended and he winced at Carter cringing internally. They got to work trying to understand the controls. It took longer than he'd hoped but eventually they decided they knew what to do. Carter confidently informed him the device was only designed to do one thing and it either did it, or undid it, so there was very little to go wrong. And she wasn't even lying. Daniel pondered out loud about the device being designed for a different physiology and therefore not working properly on Jack. Carter wondered in her mind about the intention being to control the power.  
He stood in place and braced himself. "Ready?" Carter asked.  
He looked at her.  
"I think I'm gonna miss your mind Carter." It's beautiful.  
She frowned, confused. _Was that last bit... him?_  
Wait, had he somehow put that thought in her head? Yes, he tried to tell her.  
She stared at him wide eyed with interest.  
_It might have been fun, if we could control it properly,_ she thought with a smile.  
He nodded and smiled back.  
_Do you want to do this?_ she asked.  
Do it.  
_What is that? Do they realise I'm even here in the same room?_ he heard from Daniel before Carter pressed the button and the red light enveloped him. 

What felt like seconds later he collapsed on the floor.  
"Did it work?" Daniel asked.  
"Are you ok?" Carter hovered as Daniel picked him up.  
He tried reading their minds and got nothing but a wall of silence. It was strange not to know what they were thinking, but it was peaceful, and maybe just a bit boring.  
"I'm fine. And yes, I'm all back to normal. Or as normal as I came anyway."  
He sighed exaggeratedly.  
"Wait! I never got a chance to do Vegas!"  
Maybe he didn't need to be able to read her mind, he understood that look on her face just fine.  
~


End file.
